The Sun. — London, England, 1826-08-11 00:00:00

ea)ling for them happened to occur. The best secority which the sound parrof the public could have against that, licentiOns, PresS,. which sometinieS disgraeed the com• munity that eneopraged it, was- the fair and liberafsupport of intellige nt and upright Men of property in that 'profess , Sion. ..o* that Security- lie giien, if men were dragged every day in this manner into Courts of Justice, where noraiparticle 'of maliee could he honestly or fairly imputed . totheni ? Mr. Erskine, the greatest Advocate that ever adorned the Bar, was much employed in cases of this kind, ,and there was one quotation which he never failed to use, from its apposite application to establish , ments 13e - to their faiths a little . blind, Be to their virtues very kind, ' Nor clap at padlock on the mind." Meaning,'ln fact, that they ought to be judged with 'can dour, and their acts construed liberally. When, indeed. the Press lent itself to the circulation of personal and scan dalous ealtiinny, then, indeed, it became a fit object for prosecution, and the severest punishment. Jury should always reserve its just vengeance for such cases. But this was not a case of that desce;ption, as they would find, as soon as they had heass ale evidence. The real ques tion in this case was, what treatment the poor unfortunate idiot had received,at farmer periods of his life, and what was the stkte in which this unhappy creature'had 'been discovervid, on the 25th of January last, when Mr. Eld, Mr. Broughton, and the constable, repaired to Muckle stone, and -found him with his family; for to that time, and no other, did theSe paragraphs, which were called li bels, refer. The defendants, in providing news for their . readers, had stated, that such and such a discovery had been made` by such and such magistrates. Bnt; said Mi. Campbell; in hie opening speech, see the time of this pubs lieation ; it was when the writer knew that a prosecution had been commenced against this family for the improper treatment of this individual, and he therefore sought to poi son the fountain of justice by prejudicing the minds of those who were likely to be called upon their oaths to try the louse. Now what would the jury think when they were told, that no such prosecution had been commenced at the time Mr. Campbell bad stated, nor for many weeks after ? Ile should produce proof to their entire satisfaction, that the main parts of the plaintiff's case. were built upon a tissue of the most wicked, most barefaced, most abominable, and, at the same time, most clumsy fabrications that had ever been attempted to be placed in the shape of evidence upon a Court of Justice. They had heard from the other side that this poor creature had, since his nativity, been subject to fits, and had grown worse and Worse as he had advanced in life, so that within the Very last fortnight be fore his removal, he had had ten of them ; that he was , entirely he l pless, that he had been treated, not only with humanity and attention, but with unparallelled and heroic attachment,' so as to have arrangements Made for a supply of unusual delicacies which it was thought would gratify his palate. If that be true, as sworn on the part of the plaintiff, then (still arguing upon probabilities with the Jury) how had it happened, that with s uc h manifest af fection and notorious exercises of it, two gentlemen of rank one a magistrate, of high family and fortune in the county, should have felt themselves called upon to make a domiciliary visit to such a family, and fancy that a serious in quiry was imperatively calledforinto the condition ofthe most helpless member alit. Wits it likely,that if the Whole life of this poor creatinw had been marked by ease and comfort, so far as the powers of his family went, that any magistrate should have felt it necessary to have taken so summary and decisive it step towards a family of which they knew nothing, and could not therefore have been prompted to any harsh proceeding against it. Mr. Broughton had paid this domiciliary visit, and found the wretched object of his search in the manner be would himself describe. It was said the disorder of the poor creature was epilepsy, and that light pre cipitated his fits. Now ell who were acquainted with the nature of that melancholy disease knew that. light bad nothing to do with it, Lain the immediate effect of epilepsy was to paralytic the vision; sod the creature, while under the tit,. was ILS little susceptible to the impreSsion of. light, as if he were in his grave. But their evidence in esplatuation of the cause 44 this exclusion of light, en tirely differed in its nature, for while some ascribed it to the order of old Air. find& for the reason already assigned, others deelated it to have been caused by the idiot's having smashed all the glass, and attempted to force his body through the sash. According. to the evidence for the plainti ff, the idiot had been cleaned , and his WOAD hared on Monday, the_ 234.1. of • January, day on which he, had, Veen so very that hiS lister had been *lied sit'llp With' him" all night. On Tuesday he remained still indisposed, and on Wednesday 'morning the same attention to his cleanliness wars beiteWed by his tensity, and they were only interritpted irf the performanee'of it by the sudden avowal of the Rev. Mi. Br'etighton and-Mr. Ekl. They said that there had been a tire in the room as late- et the preceding Friday ; but he should prove there was.no recent appearance of either fuel or soot in the grate, and that the probability was there had been no fire in it during the whole of the winter. It was singular too that it was exactly when the Magistrate bad made this visit, the whole operation of cleanliness • elthald have been going on; and equallyanstrvellout was it, that nothing but filth and noxious sights assailed'the senses of these gentlemen, on their examina tion of the house at the ;same moment. The Learned Counsel pledged himself to show, that the bricks which were built up within his - Window, instead of being loose, were regularly connect ed with mortar; that instead of being kept clean, lie was left in. a state of disgusting neglect, so as to have superinduced and aggra vated 'all hisavretched infirMities. He then descanted in very elo.; toes& terms upon the cruel nature of such treatment, compared with which the language of poetry and fiction became the records of real life. The cruelties at which they shuddered in history, were far less horrid than the treatment. of this forlorn individual. " The lifted axe, the agoniaitt4 wheel, • _ CrOwn, and Dannen's bed of steel," were, mild applitattions of-punishment Compared' to the sufferings of this poor idiot, crippled, naked, and shivering in a season so inclement as filet at which he WM, discovered. The tortures which despots.lufliet, though severe and. atrocious, are not of protracted duration—they agonize, but they kill .the wretched victim. He pledged himself to show that the idiot's thigh had been fractured, and the hone left to re-unite by an effort of nature —that the contention of this poor ereatnre's limbs hid arisen not from disease, as 'had been stated, but front the extremes of cold and negleet ; and that from' the hour he had been taken into the. Stafford Lenetie Asylum, • alihongli, according 'to the account of his family, lie bad for year's been the victim of constantly recur ring fits, ' be heel not Ltd one single fit,- or anything like one. — They had heard front the plaintiff" witnetisee; that George Smith had such an aversion to the operation of shaving, that the at tempt to perferm it threw him into fits. This alleged apprehen sion of the idiot induced Mr. Flint, the shrewd and active attor ney '❑ this eauser to write the. following letter to the medical_ suppintentlent of the Stafford Aa) him.: " Sir,[-. . ..1 beg to apprise you, that it it the opinion of the Me dical Gentlemen whom my clients have consulted with reference to this 'ease, that it will be highly improper to attempt to shave the •Lunatic ; I ant antlitirised by the latter to snake known their wish atul request, that he may, in this respect, he suffered to remain in his . present state. it is also necessary that lie should do so with reference to the _legal prOceedings now pending, or hereafter to be instituted. as I am, Sir, your obedient, servant, *" " Utozeter, April 5, 1806. " ABRAHAM FLINT." To Mr. Garrett, Asylum, Stafford." The object of this letter was avowedly to deter the people in the Asylum from shaving this patient ; however, they disregarded the adnionition or threat, and so far from finding poor Smith wince under the operation, he held out his face for it, and regularly turned his cheeks for the razor, as reedy as any other man would tu b er ' s s hop on a Saturday night.. ,In conclusion, the in a penoY .„ g ild he would leave the case entirely in the I.l,aeilrdriser(l4 the. Jury, upon sed p a rientt i r t f h t e h r i aa pto . babiliftea and the fa c ts as discloae d in the h,stimony on a examined proved that, The first twelve witnesees Geotge Smith assisted the who were about t vents or thirty y!lip4 a g o , l aitenti he - could speak me • loony agrlcultnra ernp in ,eas ed t o un d ers tand what was said to him. and make hay, anti rit r!vstraight, and could walk a* wall as any In person he was eery also proved that a padlock was kept other young Man. Ut in whittle he was ponfined. The moth o n the door o f the rot> red as if b oards had been put up against l o oked dark, and it a ppea tae windows. 'lliontes Eid, 1i541.-1 live at Aston-ha pea sta ir m A / and le companieti Mr. Broughton aml PolsOn, this constable, to the house of i.tlr. Smit. The fi rst person We met was Thomas Smith ; Mr. Broughton asked hint.:,hovi 4 litany brothers he had ? he replied..- - Th e rea my brother, %Out. ,ia.goue to Wake, myself, and my sis. ter." I at, , ..eil him Wbet4 his poor unfortunate brothel. was who was out of his mind ? Redid not answer ', I said to Ilia], know where he is--he is irt a dark room at the top Of the houie ;" Itir. B. said, 4, I mus t i.es him ;'' he replied, i , Gentlemen, youcanuot see him— i-otutahnot see him," and appeared very much alarmed ; I told him we had come for the sole purpose of seeing him; and see him we wouldbeforOwe left the house; the sister came down stairs ; she allied up= if we would sit clown by the fire and, take something? We replied no, it was not our wish to, take any thing, but to see her unfortunate brother, who was confined up stairs; she said we could not see him, as her bliiither had taken the key to market ; on her saying the keiconld'not be found, I Wept Pp stairs into the garret, but found nothing ; on coming down I met Mr. Smith, his sister, Mr. Broughton, and the constable. I said to Mr. Smith, " You bad 'better ikt us 'see him without anyiurther trouble." Thomas Wolth. went down the - passage to a door at the end of it Ihe pushed the door open and went in. As soon 1 as I gOt there, I put mrhead in, and of that it was, light, I said this is not the room. Mr. who was close behind me, observed a door on his Kt hand ; it was not fastened, he pushed the door open, and I went in first. I observed a window nn, the, opposite side; there was a small hole in it, and a few small holes besides, where the mortar" was not properly fas tened. - I broke the mortar with a small ash stick, and loosened one of the bricki, and afterwards took down font , or five of them. The rest of the party were then in the room. I observed no furniture in the room except a small short bed stead ; the floor of the room was covered in placed with heaps of filth ; if it had been shovelled up, it might have filled two barrows ; it was excrement ; a little oat chaff, and a little straw were also in the room, and part of the former had stuck to the filth. There was a piece of rug on the floor near the fire-place very•filthy. The bedstead was opposite the door, one side of it was against the wall, a large door seas propping up the bed,' I said to Miss Smith, " In the name of God, 'Where is this poor creature?" She went to the head of the bed, and turned off the ends of two sacks, and then she turned off a very small filthy blanket, and said Here he it." He lay coiled up like a greyhound, with one foot in one hand, and the other in the other hand, and his knees nearly touched his throat. He lay on the - heap of naten chaff on his leit side ; be turned himself round, and seemed much alarmed, but made no noise. 1 stepped to the side of the bed, and patting him on the shoulder, I smiled at him, which appeared to shake some of his fear off; I asked him if he was cold, and he replied " Aye," in a horrid tone of voice, more like a wild beast than a human creature. I said to his sister, "how can you be so cruel as to let this poor creature lie in such a horrid state?" She made answer and said, that he bad a good clean room to go to, but he would creep back to that filthy place. I said that is a lie, for that he had not been out of that room for a number of years. There was no fire in the room, nor any appearance of any having been there for a length of time.— There were no cinders, nor atraw, nor any thing like it. There was nothing like soot at the 'hack of the grate. When I saw the poor creatures he had not a thread on his back. —There was a small filthy pillow, so small that it might go. in a bat The oaten chaff appeared very filthy, such as if a pig had lain upon it, and looked as if a heap of chuff had now and then, been thrown down to refresh it. The smell was very offensive. His beard was four or five inches long. His person appeared very filthy. 1 remained about ten or twelve Minutes in the room, and then went down stairs. Mr. Brough ton and T went away, having first stated that it would be proper he should be removed to the Asylum at Stafford, where he would he taken every care of. Miss S. said we might take him where we pleased. Mr. B. wrote a letter to Mr. Garrett, the medical gentleman at the Asylum, which I took, and, on the same even ing, I returned with Mr. Garrett. George was removed. On any return, I observed that the room where he had been confined had been cleaned, and the dirt taken away ; the room was then wet from having been washed ; Poison, the constable, remained there during the time I went to the Asylum, and 1 found him there on my return. When I got hack 1 found that George had been put into a comfortable clean bed. I heard the servant girl say to Mr. Broughton, that she had never seen George Smith out of that room. lam positive I heard her say this. The Rev. Mr. Broughton and Tolson, the constable, corrobo rated Mr. Eld'e statement. Mr. Garrett, house surgeon to the Stafford Lunatic, Asylum, said, on the evening of the 25th of July he was called to see George Smith, who was then with his family, lying on a bed naked, in a very dirty state, and with a beard four or five inches long. The room was very wet all over, as if recently washed ; it AM issued a very offensive smell, And the poer idiot seemed to be in a state of alarm and apprehension, and was removed from thence upon a mantes, in a chaise, to the Asylum on . the same night. Afterwards, as Aeon as be could examine the person of the poor creature, be observed hie hotly scaly, and not like that of a person frequently washed. Though severely cold, time were alalista4 to keep the windows of the chaise open to Mitigate the noxunos effluvia Imp the patient they were conveying. When, at the Asylum o hoTtfga . plit into warm baths; when put, to bed, he . ap , - peered alarmed, anal made 'lips to be wrapped up in the blanket;: which was done, and he then huddled himself up so au to eacap6 tobservation. His holly; tv,Te entirely contracted. The repetition of warm bathing cleansed his body, and he never attempted in the asylum to tear - off any partof . his - clothing, nor had 'he.had.one single fit since his admission. He was still incapable of standing, or moving from one place to another, owing to the , contractions in his limbs—he has,the power of movinilti3 joints and his toes; , which was not the case with a paralytic patient, There wasuo paralysis in any part of his body --1 e could_moVtfront side to side of his bed. If directed ,An lift_ up : his leg, ,he would do so, or his arm ; he would hold oat hia.hand to leave his arm put into his shirt or coat. . 'The remainder of Mr. Garrett'sr terahnony, corroborated Mr. Taunton's statement. Several Medieal Gentlemen also prOved that George Smith, when brought into the AsyluM, was in the dread ful state described by M r . Garrett. At seven o'clock in the evening the defendant's case was closed. Mr. CAMPAZIA , Atm replied. At half-past nine o'clock, Mr. Justice BUR BOUGH said, that at that late hour, and after the fatigue of such close attendance, he would not proceed further this night, but reserve his charge to the Jury until to-morrow morning, and the Court adjourned accordingly. In the Crown Court, before Mr. Baron fiAnnow, , sixteen of the gang who were' said to have lived in a cave, frotn whence they issued in concert for depredations, were found Guilty. There was nothing in the evidence to support the melo-dramatic account of the habits of life'of these vagabonds, given in the nar rative of their apprehension. The cave was a hut, which was a depot for stolen property, and an occasional render:out,. They were not sentenced. TIIIIIISDAY—(Tutao Day)—Auu. 10. • (arestven THIS MORNlrlitio) : i Mr. Justice Boattooott, in charging. the Jury, said he had no, felt himself equal to the task of summing up the evidence, at the late hour at which the defendant's case had been closed on the previous night. The. question for their. consideration, were the publications given in evidence in the cause libel or not ; Were the matters contained therein true? and if they were not of opinion that the several matters pleaded in justification, or any of them, were proved ? Many objections bad been made with respect to the liberty exercised by the Editors of newspapers. He would be the last person not to acknowledge the inestimable advantages which the liberty of the press was in being a safeguard to the constitution, but he regretted that the papers had got into a most incautious habit of publishing matters which brought severe in jury on othe characters of others, and.this, as too often happened, without the slightest foundation in truth. Wherever they acted so, it was the province of Juries to award compensation, aid that compensation they were also to measure in proportion to any eg gravation which was subsequently given to the original act; and he considered placing on the record, a justification, that was, that they would prove all the facts , to he the greatest aggravation of which the editor of a paper could be guilty, s upposing the jure. tificatien not strictly proved. The Learned Judge read the libel, which he commented upon, part b y _ p art. . : Upon the whole of the case he considered that there was not a tittle of evidence to support the justification with the exception of the ' part in which the Magistrate, Mr, B roug ht o n, and Mr. Bid, went to visit the houle. With resp ect to that visit, there was sons colour for the charge ; but as to the hesitation. which *as stated ._to be shown by t he family in not im m e diatel y admitting them into the presence of their b rother, it was the na tural feeling of persons whet' knew he was not then fit to be seen. There was nothing unjustifiable -ht the 'conducting of the case ; hut it was rather a duty.for the plaintiff to have brought fo rward all the servants of the family for the long period o f thirt y years, in order to silo* if the ereatteent, the incarceration of the priboner, as was insinuated, took place before or after the death of the pa rents of the lunatic? 'The second libel, published oft the 25th of February, threw some light on the first, published on the 11th of, February ; for, up to that period, they bad been eireulating stun" tiers in the dark. In that paper, it was proved to a demonstration t lat Mr:' Siivith is - the person otrwhom this . atrocious " con d u ct is t charged. , They emtimentxd‘by saying they received 0 communica ttie on:met they publithed . the etatement of the 11,th of February. i beg eel it to .t* generally understood by newspaper editors, that no Matter what L 'rAmtlwriiiiaeum they should receive and pub fish, drat could , o. Uti - iinSiVe, 4,6 0,, c h arge o f a lib e l, .it wait their duty first to bo convinced of the truth , before they published .altY m atter in eltaractes.of. : jurioter to the Another, that: they might .be prepared toituttify . themselves .: it eau r t ; up on to 40 so.- If they were not bound to exercitie due caution of this kind, there could be little safety to the public. th was strongly . of op inion that the part of the facts alleged in the libel, fee dingthr greater the °ugh a hole in the wall, like a Swine, &c. were not proved at al ; and that the libel was of the most injurious tendency. It was particularly so, when published, as the last libel was, with a knowledge that some of - these circumstances were to he made. , the subject of legal. in vo!s.tjgation. In the pleas put in by the defendants, he observed 'one in which it was stated, that • the defendantS had only copied the paragraph from another newspaper ; whatever answer that might he in a criminal prosecution by indictment for publishing it libel, he wished it tobe underatoed it could be none at all, tvhere there Was an actien for damages. There was another most abominable plea put in—the last, that the *bike blabber stated is true; this was moat abomi nable, because it should be known it was the duty of the defendant, ' when pleading his justification, to plead severally to each and every article, specifying distinctly in what particular instance the facts are true. He did not think, from the evidence, there was tht slightest foundation to charges, the fact of the, thigh being broken, as happening after the lunatic came into the care of the plaintiff. There was no Contradiction of a material nature to any of the evidence brought forward to prove the uniform treat ment which the lunatic received after the death of his father. —They all stated that be was,treated as one of the family, and he believed it. The question then was one of damages; for, as the defendant had not proved the whole of the libel, as he was bound to do, there must he a verdict against him. Damages were certainly more due when the libellous publications were such as to poison the public mind. They would exercise their judgment coolly and dispassionately, and if they thought the several matters not justified, they should give so fair a remuneration to the plaintiff as should be a compensation to his injured character ; and in doing this he recommended them to act with moderation. The Jury consulted some time, when the Foreman addreased his Lordship, and said, they were agreed on the pleas, but not on the damages. Mr. Justice BURRMOH—You had better retire, Gentlemen, and consider your verdict. A bailiff was sworn to attend them to their room, where they remained about half an hour, and then brought in their verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 4001., costs 40s. There is a similar action commenced against the proprietor'of the Salopiart Journul, in whose paper the libel was first insert• eel, and which is expected to bat at least for two days longer.— Some overtures, we understood, were made to have it decided by the result of this, but they were rejected by the defendants. ' There is also a prosecution by indictinent at the suit of the ma gistrates of the county of Stafford, against the plaintiffs, for alleged • cruelty to the lunatic. Both those cases mutt protract the busi ness of the tuoizes to the next week. Air. Phillips is retained for the defendants. At the conclusion of the trial, a gentleman said to his Unli t:hip, my Lord, the foreman of the last jury wishes to address you on the subject of an attack wade upon him by one of the de fendants. Mr. Justice Burrough—Who is he? The Foreman (Mr. Bayer), came forward and stated lie loot been grossly insulted on account of the verdict he had given. Mr. Justice BURROUGH—By whom 7—Mr. Bird. Air. Justice Buttaouou directed Mr. Bayer to be sworn., The witness then said :—After the verdict was given, I was walking in the passages of the Gaurt, where the defendant's attor ney met me, he said, "I am much obliged to you for your ver dict." I walked on, and met him in the street, where he again said, " I hope yonr verdict was a conscientious one, that I might expect George Smith (the lunatic) to visit mfpillow that night." He then left me, and went on a few yards. He came back, and said, "I wish to ask you a question : did you not walk into Court with Mrs, Flint, the wife' of the attorney for the plaintiff, this morning." He repeated, over and over again, that I might expect George Smith on my pillow. I replied I should not, un • less he brought him there. He then said, when he next came to Gloucester, he hoped he would meet au honest Jury. Mr. Justice BusiaouGis asked Was the attorney in Court? Mr. Bird presented himself, and said he hoped to be heard in his own defence. AU he had said to Mr. Royer wm, " let me advise you, the next time you go into a jury -box, not to play the part of an advocate;" and this without any threat, or the inten tion of it. . Mr. Justice •BuRROUGH.-..-Then, Sir, you have behaved ex tremely indecent. Mr. Bird—l shOuld be sorry:asset indecently; but in my own defence I must say, that being both attorney and defendant in this cause, in the warmth of the moment having suet the foreman, I said what I did ; and I must say, I never met, in a practice of 21s years, a Jury who put so many and - such qmmtions to the witnesses. Mr. Justice Buitrionon.— Sir, you ate aggravating the offence; my judgment is that you be committed, Mt. Reyes may, if his please., accept a proper apulet t y from you. Mr. Itird.-1 ant ready to toulumt to any thing your Lordship pleiisea,.aml was proceeding to state further, when he was inter rupted by- Mr. Justice BuirsouGii.—No words, sir, you may apolopite or not. . • .• • . Mr. Bird—,Then, under, rut. Lordship's. directions, 1 am sorry for what I have said ; and I beg to say ; that I said it with, respect 'to Mrs. Flint under an impression that the Foreman did walk into Court with Mrs. Flint.. Mr. Justice Buttaollow—Alr. Flay*, : you, : have acted quite tight, to bring this matter before thecourci . aMl you, ,Sir, also tight, to make an apology. „ MAMSTONE, AuatlST 9. CROWN SIGI-TIIE KING V. STRINGER. AND ANOTHER. This was an indictment for an assault and false imprisonment. The cue, in itself, was net of general importance, but it gave rise to a disenssion upon Mr. Peel's late Act for facilitating proceedings in criminal cases ('7 Geo. IV. c. 64, s. 20), deserving of some public notice. That Act passed on the 26th of May last, and by the 20th section, after reciting that justice had been often defeated in criminal eases by formal objections appearing on the record, it enacted in substance, that no judgment should he stayed or arrested, by reason of any defect apparent on the face of the re cord, after verdict, or outlawry, or after judgment by conks+ .ion; and that the want of the words " with force and arms," " against the statute," " against the peace," &c., in any in tlicttnent, should . not he a ground for staying or arresting the judgment. The indictment in question was tbund at the last As sizes, before the passing' of the Act, and was traversed till the present Assizes. It charged the defendants, Thomas and Albert Stringer, with assaulting and falsely imprisoning Thomas Humphreys, at Cudhana, on the 17th of February, in the seventh year of the reign of George 111., and concluded in the usual form, " against the said King's peace, his crown and dig nity." It was an old printed form, of the time of George 111., and had been filled up to suit the present.occasion, but omitted to alter the reign in which the offence was supposed to have been committed. In answer to the first qiiektion put to the prosecu tor, it appeared that the transaction in question took place on the 17th February list, and not on the 17th February, in the 7th year of the reign of George 111. A question thereupon arose, whether the defendants could he tried on such an indictment, the offence being 'alleged to have taken place at a time when none of the parties were in existence. , • Mr. Law, for the defendants, contended, that this was an ob jection available before verdict, as matter of variance between the record and the evidence, anti that Mr. Peel's Acf was inapplicable to the came. On these grounds, he submitted that the defendants were entitled to an acquittal. Mr. Astoaxwo / contra, submitted, first, that as the 'Set was expressed in: general terms, without any limitation of tune to the vommeneement of its operation, it must, by consequence, he construed to embrace the present case. See ontily, the object of the statute was to prevent a failure of justice, by allowing of objections, in point of fortn, wholly besides the merits of thl, ease and to dispense with the prolif Of immaterial avernients. The present objection was of this nature, for it Merely went to the time when the offence was alleged to have been C ommitted, which was wholly immaterial, and might, he rejected as surpluage.--: Proof, that an assault had been committed in the comity of 'Kent was quite snfficient to give the Court jurisdiction, without going on to show that it was committed at the precise time alleged. . Mr. Justice Hominy') said, in substance , --It appears to toe that the 20th section of the Act of Parliament does nut in terms extend to this particular use. Whether it does consequenti is another question, upon which I have at present formed no opi nion. At first I was clearly of opinion, that as the indictment was found by the Grand Jury at the last Assize', and as the, eta tute did not pans until afterwards, it could not by possibility be brought within its operation ; b u t I . do not find, any thing in the clause to restrain to indiCtments " to be preferred,7 which words a re generally found in statueintended to have a prosective ope ration ; and therefore it seems t o toe , that there is nothing repug nant in giving it a retrospective construction, so as to'enihrac c, e is a e ca se actually brought to t ria l a f ter th e passing of the Act, th oug h t he indietmeolt was found previoully. The Tiestien then whether - the. Act to have a. retrosPeOwe 6 P"'ltion) this com es within it by consegnene4 tholigh it,,does ni)t iii teriui..;-- UndoOteclh' tlii, i s is an Act of Parliaincitt which ought to be 'construed. strictly, a n d I ~.„certain *nine doubt upon its con struction, , I shall. save the point. it is. Stated amongst' the mu ine.rated ohjecti , winch til . n,ll nut he avai/able, that if, after vet . . diet, it spposrs that the faa i. 5 averred to have:taken place on, an impossible iLly i it shall be, no o t,jection iu *eat of judgrnent.---- The question. th c l i i May ( 4 - , whether it is not an immaterial afiet ; Wien, that the assault' took place in the'reign of George the Third, and whether it may not be altogether rejected as surplu- sage As a decision on the construction of this Act of Parlia ment may be very extensive in its consequences, with reference to other cares, I shall save the point for the consideration of the Judges, and allow the trial to proceed. The case was then tried on the merits, and in the.result the de fendants were found. guilty. The business on the Crown side finished this evening. None of the capital convicts were left for execution. Joseph _Ann; who was convicted on Monday of sending threat ening letters to a gentleman named Gregory, demanding money at the peril of beinjinurdered, was sentenced to be transported for the term of his natural life. The learned Judge told him that had • not the tvitat punishment been taken away by a recent Act of Parliament, it was a case in which the utmost severity of the law must have taken place. The prisoner waa suspected of having sent similar letters to other persons, and amongst them, to the present Earl of Winchilsea. 'wawa PRICES OF STOCKS 11-111 !link Stock ........ 3 pet Cent. Red 794 % 9 3 per Cent. Cons 1"810 t per(ut. S aKo Red Sfq 4 er Cent. New 9igi , , iii 4 Ditto Scrip Bank Long Ann. Indio Stock ....... Ditto Bonds 'lo pin DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. South Sea Stock Old Annuities 784 New Ditto Ex. Bills, £l,OOO 2d. 18 15 17 pm. Ditto 5OO 2d. 17_18 pm. Ditto Small U. 16 17 pm. Ditto Advertised Bank for Account India for Account Cons. for Account 78 N % PRICES OF FOREIGN F Austrian Bonds, 5 per cent. ...88 Brazilian 'Bonds Buenos Ayres Bonds Chillan Bonds, 6 per et 4O Colombian Bonds Ditto, 1824 It 3 Danish, 3 per cent. Gree_lc Bonds JNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK. Neapolitan 1824 Peruvian 80nd5...., 27. Portuguese Bonds — Prussian, 5 per cent. Ditto, New — Russian, New, 5 per cent. ...8374 Spanish, 1821 104% --- ists 7,g French Rentes, 5 p. c. —f —c. --r.! Exchange —t. —c. 3 per cent. ----..... Exchange —i. —c. 1825 Guatemala Mexican Bonds 42 3 i 4 1)o. 1825 513 j 50 1 414 .49,1, PRICES OF SHARES AT ONE 0 CLOCK. Paid. Per Share. Brazilian Mining Company £ls 35 Ca.dello and EspiritoSantoßrazil Ditto 5 . 5g 4% General Mining Association " "5 Potosi La Paz and Peruvian Assoc. Protector Fire Insurance Company 2' I% , PRICE OF IRISH STOCKS, AUG. 8. Bank Stock ' 228 St. Patrick Insurance — Gov. Stock, :% per cent. 841,1 5 ,i55i Royal Irish Ditto — Ditto, New 4 per Cent. New , ItiiiN 1 Patriotic Ditto — Goa. Deb. 3% per cent Bl i Hibernian Bank Consols, II per cent . '7B! . Provincial Ditto Royal Canal Stock Grand Canal Stock —. lmperial Mine — City Deb. 4 per cent. fren Fish Shares 7 Ilallast Office Deb. 4 per cent. New Brighton MAILS. Arrived. Due. Arrived. Due. I Dublin . 0 0 Flanders 0 I Waterford 0 0 Jamaica 0 O Guernsey& Jersey. 0 0 Leeward Islands O Lisboii . 1 , 0 Malta 0 O Gottenburgli 0 0 America I I Hamburgh 0 • 0 Brazil I Holland 0 • 0 Buenos Ayres . . 'l France HIGH WATER. AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. Morning 4O minutes atter 9. I Evening 18 minutes after 9. rbt LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 11, 1826. The City is inundated with Rumours ; according to these; our Army in India had been surrounded by the Burmese—Mr. CANNING is immediately to embark for France on an important mission—Sir SIDNEY SMITH, who happens to have .had a private in terview with the KING of France, is to take the com mand of a squadron to watch the movements of Lord COCHRANE—and twenty other such reports equally probable. We need not add that all these rumours are with Out fen mdation ; and have, no doubt, been got up for objects connected with the state of the Funds. We received last night the Paris Papers of Tues. day, and the Etoile dated Wednesday. These papers contain but little beyond the details of the intelligence from Constantinople, down.to the llth July, the sub stance of which had been published the day before. We subjoin the most interesting of these details, and a few other paragraphs from the French Papers. The King and Queen of SPAIN are already on their return from the baths of Solar de Cabras • (From the Etoile dated Wednesday.) CONSTANTINOPLE, Jinx 11.—The Sultan, dressed in the Egyptian fashion, has attended in person the military exercises at Eslu-Serai. He especially noticed some curassiers, whom he de sired to accompany him on the 29th, on his return, as far as the Suleimanie. The gunners are exercised at the great barracks above Pere. A battalion passed through the suburb this morn ing, preceded by music and drums, marching in two lines, and divided into companies, &c„ with their officers and subalterns.— This novel sight cause d . a great sensation. _ _ It wus Mahmoud himself who first intimated to the Memos his intention to abolish the punishment of confiscation ; they applauded his project, which they declaredlo be in harmony with the Divine law, and a Hata Scheriff confirmed this important reform. The Sultan has abolished several pieces of etiquette which kept, him to much at a distitnce from his Ministers and the Ulemas. In the late Councils, he repeatedly desired the persons present to sit down in his presence, and, in spite of their respectful objections, insisted on being obeyed. Partial executions continue ; the Khaudjor, adorned with diamonds, belonging to Nedjib Effendi, ha's been found in the hands of a dealer in charcoal, who has been in prison. On the 30th, the Sultan went to pray in the Mosque of the barracks of the Embodiers, as a testimony of his confidence and satisfaction. This corps increases daily, and vies with the Topchis in its zeal to learn the exercise. Capital punishments are rare, hut - sentences of banishment and condemnation to the galleys for lb years are frequent. On the 2d of July, the Porte gave •to the Armenian Patriarch leave to punish the had characters of his nation, with the assurance that the change of religion should not secure the guilty from the punishment which they had merited before they turned Mussul mans ; that in such case he •had only to inform the Porte, which is by no means desirous of such converts. Imprisonment and the hastinado have already done justice to a great number of criminals. The Patriarch has enjoined his countrymen to conduct them selves with prudence and modesty, that they may not offend the superior autho ri t ies. _ On Monday, the Bd, the order to light the houses at night was revoked, and orders given that nobody shall appear in the streets at half-past nine in the evening. This measure was taken because the city is perfectly tranquil. The late precaution kept people's minds in a state of alarm to no purpose. The works at Eski Serai are proceeding with as much activity as the military manotuvres. The situation of the place is magni ficent ; it is a kind of citadel in the midst of the capital, and it is to be converted into a military.depot. Paitts, Auc. B.—A Royal Ordinance (in the Moniteur of to-day), in consideration of the services of the late Attorney- General Bellart, gives a pension of 8,000 fratua to Mademoiselle Julia Bellart. , Two English officers, sent by Commodore Hamilton, have arrived at Constantinople in five days from the Dardanelles. A part of the Capitan Pacha's fleet had just pat .to sea. Accounts froM Smyrna say, that the Janissaries in that city have submitted to the will of the Sultan. sitt P it l g it , i r s e , gi A ste e r 6. registered letters patent of his Majesty, bearing the erec at a solemn Baron and Rapp, Count de Gerntiny, 9..-. The J c o o t t i i r r t . i ß ai o ( y ie a s ie D . t e t}.4a bais y ? in divers the Duke Dearest, who has presented domains, and in . ,' . in th e GVeat Book, an annual revenue of 80 640 f . • tion of Majorats, in favour of several Peers of France, t u kto d yi t in h s e cr al ipti ro or t,ndigne, the 0 .. r , ~_ K ei , ot i a y, and fil. de Clermont Tonnerre, Count Fl Ila ' "' .s . . manual of War. It is confidently asserted that the Duke of Belluno has given in his resignation as Major-General of the G uar d. The Min i stry . ~.it id a aid, are employing every batons to p reva il on the mamba' to . (Front. the:Conittittaionnel.) General Guilleminot has . set off this' • f Con morning .or stan tinople. W e have receivea, by an extraordinary sourish the Madrid f o rego his intention. .. . ~,,, August: , . y . . It does' not contain any thing of tm- Solar de Cabras I o G r a t z a e n t e t , e r, o b t u t t n t e he . ..tieaottieortheir Majesties from lon the 20th July, and their return to Cuenca. The Queen has' derived benefit front tie waters. Their Majesties intend, on their - journey to Madrid, to pass through Guadalaxara and Siquenza, in • order to, gratify the . +Tishes of the faithful inhabitants, who have 80 frequently given, proofs of their faithful attachment to his Majesty. FRENCH Futint.--Paats, AUG. B.—Pive per Cent., 100 f. 60e. ; Three per Cents. 661. 25e. ; Bank Stock, 2,015 f. ; Rentes de Naples, 721. 60r. ; Renter Spanish .Loan, 4541. ; Rented de Espagne, H ; Exchange on London—cne month, 251. 65c. Brussels and, Amsterdam Papers of the 9th instant, reached us last night. They are chiefly filled with accounts of the ravages occasioned by violent hail and thunder storms in different parts of the country. The total amount of damage done to the crops , a nd in the destruction of' windows by the hail-stones, appears to be immense. The only paragraph in these papers of political in terest is one which states that Prince METTERNICD , who was on his way to Johannisberg, was overtaken by several couriers with important despatches, which obliged him to stop to answer them, and thus retarded his journey. The Marquis of HERTFORD had arrived at Brus sets on his way to Spa. AMSTIRDAM, Ann. s.—Exchange on London, 40.9.—Tw0 months, 46.6. • The St. i'eterfburgh .Journal of the 26th July reached us also last night, but it contains no intelli genes which we had not before received through the medium of the French Papers. Letters and Papers from Gibraltar were received yesterday to the 21st July. The accounts obtained by these channels, of the state of the interior parts of Spain, aonfirtn the information which had before reached us of the miserable state of society in all the provincial towns. Factions exist every where, which threaten the interruption of public tranquillity. The communications between many of the principal pla( es in La Mancha, had been interrupte d b y a band of Carlists. The culture of Cochineal in the neighbourhood of Cadiz appears to have been much attended to, and hopes are entertained that it will rival the produce in Murcia. We received the Allgemeine Zeitung of the 4th instant, containing further particulars respecting the • • progress of the SULTAN in t u e organ ization o f his new Army, and the entire suppression of 'the Janis saries. It appears, that the terror of his vengeance has spread so much through the v Empire, that the Janis e saries at Adrianople , Sa lonichi, and Smyrna, ha sent deputations expressing their obedience to th e . SULTAN, who communicated the gratifying gence to his new Army of 40,000 men, in person CONSTANTINOPLE, JULY 10. The Sultan is proCeeding with rapid strides to the at tainment of the object which ha has proposed to hina l, and favoured by circumstances he will succeed in it, in* terrible and sanguinary manner it- is. true, but which re make an era in the annals of the.empire,zmd more q _ than any person could have ventured to expect. The executions, banishments, and punishments of all kinds °f those who adhere to the old system, as well as the demo lition of the dwellings of the Janissaries, continue day' 02 night ; and the system of .terror seems to have made the tbst an impression in the other great cities of the Empire, the Janissaries at Adrianople, Salonichi, and Smyrna are quietly submitting to their dissolution, and have alreedi Weill signified their obedience by deputies whom they hes sent for the purpose to the Sultan, who the day before yesterday personally announced this .to the new troop s, All c*r which already amounted to 40,000 mse (nu. ned Ar y and by this mean combine to raise in the shortest time possiba aculmarsgteaidless disciplined the people here flatter themselves) to inspire respect in the Negoo' tion st Ackerman, and at the same time awe the enemies in the interior of the Empire. Six Paellas have been nr" dered (probably - with this view) to repair from the Asi*O. provinces to the capital, with numerous corps, and tb . are expected to arrive portly. Some think that wne: corps of the Yamaha is dissolved, as it doubtless wi ll ber, the castles on the Bosphorus will be garrisoned with thole troops. Some thousand Topchis are already employed, in building five large barracks for the .new t r oops ' end Constantinople is now like a great camp , ,to which has been formed during a bloody revolution. found tranVil lity prevails in the quarters inhabited.by the Turks. T_,e numbers of those who look with apprehension toWerune the North, and fear an interntption of peace, is ve r y enn'' • 4 . We have learnt from the Eioitc that this has already 14 " . place. • Frankfort Papers of the 4th instant, have also her" received. They contain the project of a stupendou' canal for connecting the Rhine with the Seine at Par i 7 and communicating with the English Channel 8 Havre. This is one of the blessed fruits of Pell e ,!" We hope, for the sake of Commerce, that a proje ct 11 every way so desirable may soon be accomplialte lii Holland another canal on a large scale is loak ilt g. from the Ha rue to the North Sea at Scheven er g ale We cannot help expressing some regret , that 1 foreigners are so alive to take advantage of their liatt; rid situations, we should be so tardy in making "1" best of our own. A canal from London to F°46: month, would be the grandest and most beneficial Puri( lic work ever undertaken in any .country. that 11(111 i t policy, and.the interests of humanity, demand should be undertaken without delay. i. STILASBURGII , AU to We have often spoken of the project of a o il .unite the Rhine with the Seine, and thence to connt°i,e'd cafe with Havre de Grace. Engineers are stilt enit?',is in surveying the ground, and wherever this orea n r,bis carried on, the inhabitants exp re s s joy and hOP e “ 1 , 110 . enterprise. A Royal Ordinance issued last MaYl„ al ;,' rized a Society of Shareholders fo. make the preur -- ,:tin • rir and the conditions are approved, examination, and if in the next annual meeting, t ae 3ich this vast work, sr 001. o coerce, bstace m o a n y th e e whole s n l carriedin line to promises incalculable advantages to ulture c o ot the department of the Meese, between Naive-an-'°l:iiost Paris l e i. tr o e m et s . Bolve, on account of the Mountain Navremon4 whie " l be pierced through, as at St. Quintin.. _ Li ,. rinusaas , The great system of canalisation in the Netherla"ablf times to be,,roore and more, xtended. _A greattlie canal for merchantmen is,now riiing between l" and gchevenergen, where there is an excellen t, the ment for .bathing on. the North Sea. By. thi s 1 014 beautiful town of the Hague will' become a Owf r om* .commercial city, and it will derive-great advantage oof direct communication by sea with London, b' me ri t and steam boats. New canals are also making in , P ;We,' (Gelderland. The canal of Liege will with the Scheldt and the Rhine. traoThbeurlgreiisoigot thi Q ng ue n b e ec w. A very Pape r s rema rka t b ° l this morning, but they do not furnish us wi ll ' ' in). ----------:=-- --------7-'—•—t--:: - , h ave 'i t *lt it' ethechlh e Ji a ly p l i i m av i e t..b:cnli tv, 6. place again in the Money ,Marke,t., , ,>:d.l J - e f. :.,` tl' After a stagnation o f business, with ratlter ' 111 _ ,, ,,,,, t, - nation to a decline for some time, the Funds last' •